Height adjustable single or multiple clothesline



March 31, 1959 o. F. MCCARTHY HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE SINGLE OR MULTIPLE CLOTHESLINE Filed May 14, 1956 Inventor Owen E'jlfC'ar/lzy Attorn'eys 4 United States Patent I HEIGHT ADJUSTABLE SINGLE R MULTIPLE CLOTHESLINE Owen F. McCarthy, 'Colma, Calif. Application May 14, 1956, Serial No. 584,526 1 Claim. (Cl. 211119.17)

The present invention relates to improvements in a height adjustable single or multiple clothesline. It con sists of the combinations, constructions, and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter described and claimed.

An object of my inventionis to provide a height adjustable single or multiple clothesline, in which one or more clothes and/or fabric supporting lines, are held taut in a horizontal position, and may be raised or lowered within predetermined limits. If more than one line is used, the lines are preferably arranged parallel to each other and spaced a sulficient distance apart to support clothes or other articles to be dried and allow air to freely circulate through the articles.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device of the type described in which the friction and spring tension principles are applied to each line so that they can be adjusted independently of each other and each line will remain at any desired elevation into which it has been moved and it will not need any additional support.

The invention is simple in construction, exceptionally practical in use, and may be installed in a room or out of doors, to posts, walls or a combination of both, with out special mechanical skill.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceeds. The novel features will be set forth in the claim hereunto appended.

Drawing My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, forming a part of the application, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device;

Figure 2 is a side elevation on an enlarged scale of the portion indicated at IIII in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of an elongated hook used for adjusting the vertical height of the clotheslines; and

Figure 4 is a modified form of the device.

While I have shown only the preferred forms of my invention, it should be understood that various changes, or modifications, may be made within the scope of the annexed claim without departing from the spirit thereof.

' Detailed description In carrying out my invention I provide a pair of brackets, indicated generally at A and A in Figure 1. Each bracket is identical in construction and therefore a description of the bracket A will sufiice for both. The bracket A comprises an upper channel-shaped member 1, and a lower channel-shaped member 2. Both of these members are arranged in a horizontal position and the member 1 is disposed above the member 2. A plurality of rods or supporting members 3 are arranged vertically between the upper and lower channel members and are connected thereto. The lower flange 1a of the upper channel 1 has openings 4 therein, for receiving the tops of the vertical rods. Figure 1 shows the rods extending through the openings 4 with their tops bearing against the under-surface of the upper flange 1b.

Both Figures 1 and 2 show the lower ends of the 2,879,901 aten ed 3. 1 959,

vertical rods 3 extending through openings 5 in the upper flange 2a of the lower channel 2. The lower ends of the vertical rods then abut the inner surface of the lower flange 2b of the channel 2, as shown in Figure 2. As many rods 3 as desired may be arranged between the upper and lower channels 1 and 2. I have shown four vertical rods in Figure 1, but I do not wish to be confined to this exact number.

The bracket A is secured to a post B by bolts 6 and 7, as shown in Figure 1. Both bolts are the same and the lower bolt 7 is shown on an enlarged scale in Figure 2. The post B has an opening 8 therein for receiving the shank of the bolt 7. Figure 1 shows a small plate 9 for each channel 1 and 2, and each plate has an opening 10 therein for receivingthe shank of the-bolt 6 or 7. The plates 9 arewelded, or otherwise secured,--to the edges of the upper and lower flanges of the channels 1 and 2. The bolt 7 also has its shank extending through an opening in a web 20 of the lower channel member 2. A wing nut 11 is mounted on the threaded portion of the bolt and in this way the lower channel 2 is secured to the post B. The upper channel 1 is secured to the same post B by the bolt 6 in the same manner as that described for the bolt 7. The wing nuts 11 on both bolts 6 and 7 permit the operator to adjust the bracket A so that the rods 3 will extend vertically.

In Figure l, I show the bracket A secured to another type of support, such as the side of a building C. The bolts 6 and 7 are used for attaching the bracket A to the building wall and wing nuts 11 may be tightened for securing the bracket in place and arranging the rods 3, vertically. Both brackets A and A are preferably mounted at the same height above the ground and may be secured to any desired supporting object.

I attach anumber of clotheslines D between each bracket and these clotheslines have their ends adjustably secured to the vertical rods 3 on opposite brackets. At each end of each clothesline I mount a coil spring E, and then the outer ends of the springs are connected to eyelets or gripping members F. Figure 2 shows one coil spring E on a larger scale and illustrates how the end of the clothesline D is attached thereto. The eyelet F has a ring-shaped portion 12 that slidably receives the vertical rod 3. A ring, not shown, could-be substituted for the eyelet F.

The length of the clothesline between the two brackets A and A is determined by the distance between the two brackets so that when the clothesline is attached to two vertical rods 3 of the two brackets, the coil springs E will be placed under sufiicient tension to hold the clothesline in any position desired along the lengths of the rods 3. For example, in Figure 1, the clothesline D nearest the right hand end of the brackets A and A is shown with its eyelets F placed adjacent to the lower ends of the two vertical rods 3 to which it is attached. The next clothesline D to theleft of the one just mentioned, is shown with its eyelets F disposed about halfway up on the next pair of vertical rods 3. The last two clotheslines D are shown with their eyelets F placed at the tops of their rods 3..

The brackets A and A are preferably mounted so that their lower channels 2 will be disposed approximately at shoulder height of a person who stands on the ground and uses the lines. This makes it easy for the operator to hang a towel G, or the like, on the righthand clothesline D and secure the towel in place by clothespins 13 or other suitable fastening means. After the towel, and any other additional clothes or articles are attached to the righthand clothesline D, it is possible to move this clothesline vertically so that it will be supported near the tops of the two rods 3, and therefore the clothes will be at a high enough position to permit a person to walk under them. The clotheslines D may be supported at any intermediate position between the lower and the upper ends of the rods 3.

In Figure 3 I show a hook H that has a hand grip portion 14, a shank 1'5, and a hook-shaped end 16. The hook 16 also has a small projection 17 extending to the right in Figure 3 and forming a V-shaped notch 18 with the adjacent portion of the hook 16. After one or more articles are placed on the clothesline, such as the towel G, the hook H may be used for moving the line upwardly on the vertical rods 3. The operator first places the V-shaped notch 18 under the shank of the eyelet F at the lefthand end of the line and moves the hook I-I upwardly to raise the eyelet to a desired position on the rod 3. The operator then moves to the opposite end of the same line and raises the eyelet F at this end on its vertical rod 3. The coil springs B will permit this vertical adjustment at each end of the line and will cause the eyelets F to grip the rods 3 with sufiicient friction to prevent the clothesline D from moving downwardly accidentally, due to the weight of the articles supported by the line. I have found that even when considerable weight is placed on the clothesline at any point, the gripping force of the eyelets on the rods will be increased and will prevent any downward movement of the eyelets on the rods. This is due to the fact that the moment of force pulling on the eyelets and at right angles to the rods 3 will be greater than the moment of force pulling downwardly on the eye lets, and therefore the eyelets will maintain the positions into which they have been moved. The clotheslines may be raised to halfway position or to the full top position, as indicated in Figure 1.

When the operator wishes to remove the dried clothes or other articles from the line, he takes the hook H and places the hook-shaped end 16 over the eyelet shank of the clothesline which is to be moved downwardly and then pulls downwardly on the hook H to move the eyelet F downwardly along the rod 3 to a desired lower position. The hook H is then used for lowering the opposite end of the same clothesline, whereupon the clothes may be removed.

The brackets A and A are secured in place to supporting members, by the bolts 6 and 7 in such a manner so as to withstand any swinging of the brackets about their centers in a horizontal plane due to any uneven pull on the clotheslines. The bolt shanks in passing through the openings in the plates 9 and the webs 1c and 2c of the channels, will hold the channels 1 and 2 from swinging in a horizontal plane. hold the rods 3 in a vertical plane, regardless of whether one or more articles are placed on the clotheslines and whether the lines are at the lower ends of the rods or atany intermediate position between the lower and the upper ends thereof. It is possible to have only one coil spring at an end of the rod and the device will function satisfactorily. However, I have found that where two springs are used for each clothesline, better results are obtained and the line will have no tendency to move downwardly when supporting clothes.

The advantage of the device lies in the fact that the clothesline may be lowered to permit the ready attachment of the clothes thereto, after which the lines may be raised to any desired position so as to raise the clothes to a height over the ground where a person may walk under the clothes without contacting them. A further advantage in the multiple use of the clotheslines lies in The bolts 6 and 7 will also Q,

the fact that only the desired clothesline may be lowered or raised and this will not interfere with the use of the others. Where a number of clotheslines are now used in a standard installation, and they are all arranged in the same plane with no opportunity of vertical adjustment, it is practically impossible to hang clothes on a center line without interfering with clothes that have already been hung on the other lines. My invention overcomes this difficulty.

In Figure 4 I show a slightly modified form of the invention. The bracket J in this figure has pairs of vertically extending strips or supporting members 20 and 21 that take the place of the vertical rods 3. The clothesline K with its coil spring L is attached to a ilat member 22 and this member is slidably received between a pair of vertically extending strips 20 and 21. The fiat member 22 carries a pin or gripping member 23 which extends transversely therethrough and has its ends riding on edges 20a and 21a of the strips 20 and 21, respectively.

The strips 20 and 21 have their lower ends extending through slots 24 in the upper flange 25 of a channelshaped member 26 that corresponds to the channel-shaped member 2. The top of the bracket J is provided with a channel-shaped member, not shown, similar to the member 26. A plurality of pairs of strips 20 and 21 intercounect the two (only one is illustrated) horizontally-disposed channel members 26 and bolts, not shown, similar to the bolts 6 and '7, secure the bracket I to a supporting post or wall. Two brackets I will be used.

The operation of this form of the invention is the same as that set forth for the form shown in Figures 1 to 3, inclusive. The hook H can move the flat member 22 upwardly or downwardly along the pair of strips 20 and 21, and the coil spring L will cause the pin 23 to frictionally engage with the edges 20a and 21a to hold the member 22 in the position into which it has been moved.

I claim:

A clothesline assembly comprising a pair of spaced apart brackets, each having a like number of vertically extending guide and supporting members; one of said members on one bracket cooperating with another of said members on the other bracket to provide a pair of guide and supporting members; said brackets being provided with a plurality of such pairs of guide and supporting members; a. clothesline for each pair of said members and arranged parallel to each other; a coil spring connected to each end of each line; a gripping member connected to each spring; said gripping members of each line being slidably connected to the guide and supporting members associated with that line and being adjustable along the latter members into the desired vertical position; the coil spring of each line being under tension and holding the line taut and causing the gripping members to frictionally engage with their guide and supporting members for holding the gripping members in the positions into which they have been moved.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 939,811 Culbertson Nov. 9, 1909 1,048,780 Woolhiser Dec. 31, 1912 1,587,527 Hoover June 8, 1926 1,822,907 Ruchie Sept. 15, 1931 2,059,093 Edwards Oct. 27, 1936 2,594,738 Curtz Apr. 29, 1952 

